German far-right slammed for ‘shoot refugees’ remark

The leader of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party’s suggestion that border police shoot at refugees entering the country illegally was met with outrage by politicians and security forces.

Officers should “use firearms if necessary,” Frauke Petry told the newspaper Mannheimer Morgen on Saturday. “No policeman wants to fire on a refugee and I don’t want that either,” she said, but added that police “must stop refugees entering German soil.”

Beatrix von Storch, AfD’s deputy leader and an MEP, fanned the flames by saying on Facebook that police should be allowed to use weapons against women and children who enter Germany illegally. She later tried to water down her comments, writing: “The use of firearms against children is not permitted.” However, she added that “women are a different matter.”

“The use of weapons against them [women] can therefore be permitted, within the narrow legal framework.”

Sigmar Gabriel, the leader of the Social Democrats, the junior partner in the coalition government, responded by saying that AfD should be put under surveillance by the intelligence services.

“We do not help parties that oppose the free democratic basic law of our country to spread their propaganda,” Gabriel said.

The head of the police union GdP, Joerg Radek, said: “No policeman would be ready to fire” at refugees. “We have already seen that over the course of German history and we don’t ever want to go down that road again.”

AfD on Monday attempted to clarify Petry’s remarks, saying in a statement that it “rejects shooting at people that are coming to Germany in a peaceful way” and that it does not want to change existing laws.

An opinion poll published Sunday showed that support for AfD is on 12 percent, the highest ever ahead of elections in March in Rhineland-Palatinate, Baden-Württemberg and Saxony-Anhalt .

The party has no seats in the national parliament.

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This is typical backlash when the government of the day chooses to invite brutes under the guise of refugees. While my comment can be deleted can Politico delete or erase the support for AfD? Stop this invasion, repatriate the ones who have entered and take a poll.